NR DROOP! I can only agree, after having a few years of fun up there before 771 took over I have to say it was some of the most diverse (and scary)flying ever! I somehow doubt that we'll ever see a Bristows aircraft hovering off the cliffs in Glen Coe in the middle of the night in a screaming snow storm! The flying experience gained in these conditions is excellent and prepares pilots for any other role. Search and rescue over land is a completely different ball game from coastal and sea rescue. Very few mountains and granite clouds out over the briney! (don't tell that to the Titanics navigator though ;-))
The military provides the 24 hour cover to both the military and the civilians, often risking it when the civilian units, due to equipment limitations, have to turn it down. Don't have the equipment, don't have the limitations has been one of the reasons why SAR has stayed in the military. We have the only trained personnel who live, work and fly with the aircraft shortcomings. Want to do something useful Jungly AEO, quit whining about having to allow aircraft to be used for SAR and start finding and bolting in the equipment to enable it to be flown better.
(pheww!)
(Remember! the light at the end of the tunnel could be an on-coming train!)
